Pastor keeps community together during pandemic

By Bill Doyle | CPF Correspondent

On Christmas Eve, Father William Schipper held a Mass outside in Spencer for Mary, Queen of the Rosary parishioners who sat in their cars in the parking lot.
They listened to him on their car radios or watched the live-streamed production on their cell phones. Communion was distributed as parishioners departed.
Father Schipper received quite a few words of thanks from those who attended, including people who were elderly, had health issues or didn’t feel comfortable going inside the church during the pandemic.
“As a pastor, I’m very thankful and edified,” he said, “about how much people appreciate and are supportive of things we’re trying to do to help them stay connected to each other, to the sacraments and to God.”
Priests throughout the Worcester Diocese and beyond are doing their best to guide their parishioners through this pandemic.
“We don’t see our friends or relatives as frequently,” Father Schipper said. “We don’t touch each other. We stay away from each other. Anyone with some basic insight would know how it affects them. Well, it affects the Church the same way. So we have fewer people in church because people want to protect themselves and stay at home, particularly older people, but not just older people. We have no community activities.”
Father Schipper estimated that attendance at Mass is only 50 to 60 percent of what it used to be, but donations approach 90 percent of what they were pre-pandemic. He credits a boost of 35-40 percent in online contributions for that.
“My hope is, once this is over, they will come back physically to church,” he said, “(after) having them gone for over a year and what seems like will be for a year and a half. We had very few people under the age of 50 coming to church before. Now, who knows what’s going to happen afterwards? So the biggest impact might be a year from now.”
Once enough people are vaccinated and feel safe to return to Mass, then churches will discover the true impact of COVID-19. Father Schipper hopes those who are staying away will return, but there’s no way to tell. He’s doing his best to remain upbeat.
“I can’t think of a lot of positive things,” he said, “other than the fact that we probably have more strength than we thought we did, and we can endure during these difficult times and not be overtaken by them. I can’t say that people have turned to their faith more. I don’t know that. I haven’t seen that, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened.”
Mary, Queen of the Rosary is following guidelines the diocese issued to parishes on how to safely conduct Mass and offer the sacraments during the pandemic.
Every other pew is blocked off and masks are required. Hands of parishioners are sanitized upon entering the church and prior to Communion. Father Schipper sanitizes his hands before and after Communion.
“That’s one positive, we probably all have cleaner hands now,” he said.
Father Schipper said about 300 people tuned in to one 10:15 a.m. Sunday Mass livestreamed on Facebook, more people than attended any service during the pandemic.
Father Schipper didn’t livestream Masses before the pandemic and he hasn’t decided if he’ll continue them after it. He’d rather that people attend Mass in person.
“I don’t want us to become a church that is virtual,” he said.
Parishioners who have stopped attending Mass during the pandemic could be praying at home, but Father Schipper doesn’t believe that’s enough.
“Christianity is community,” Father Schipper said. “It’s not walking off into the forest by ourselves. Those moments are good and rewarding, our prayer at home is good, rewarding and necessary, but it should never be looked at as thinking that’s going to replace our worship and community together in church.”
Early on in the pandemic, the parish’s food pantry was busier than usual, but Father Schipper said now it’s about the same as it was prior to the pandemic. The pantry is open on Thursday mornings and serves 150-180 households per month or 2,000 per year and distributes Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving baskets.
Donations to the pantry from local businesses and people increased significantly, Father Schipper said.
The parish’s religious education program, called Faith Formation, has had a drop in registered students from 118 during the 2019-2020 school year to 76 this school year. Classes are taught via Zoom even though Father Schipper realizes that students have grown tired of learning everything through Zoom.
“What happens with that after the pandemic will be interesting,” he said.
Weddings, baptisms, first Communions, confirmations, funerals continue to be held, but with fewer people in attendance. The font is emptied and refilled with fresh water after each baptism. 
Mary, Queen of the Rosary stays in touch with parishioners through its Facebook page, Flocknotes and website. The church bulletin is posted on the website.
Father Schipper, his secretary and volunteer stay apart and wear masks while working in the office, and the secretary and volunteer work remotely at times. The public is no longer allowed in the office. During staff meetings in the living room, a window is opened for circulation.
Father Schipper hopes that after the pandemic his parishioners will be able to resume community meals and activities, and get together at Mass and outside of Mass.
“I feel like I’m continuing to do my work and my ministry as I did before ... people are very supportive,” Father Schipper said.